Pastor of the Panhandle
Friday, March 05, 2004
Reflection #4
JMJ
V: Our help is in the name of the Lord. / Adiutorium nostrum in nomine Domini.
R: Who made heaven and earth. / Qui fecit caelum et terram.
Scripture: Mt. 6:7-13
In praying, do not babble like the pagans, who think that they will be heard because of their many words. Do not be like them. Your Father knows what you need before you ask him.
"This is how you are to pray: Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name,
your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as in heaven.
Give us today our daily bread; and forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors; and do not subject us to the final test, but deliver us from the evil one.
Reflection:
Twice in this week’s gospels for daily Mass we have heard lessons from the Lord about prayer. Sunday we will hear, not so much a spoken lesson on the same, but the Lord’s example of prayer – the value he himself places on prayer. The prayer for today’s Liturgy of the Hours asks in part that our observance of Lent “prepare us to celebrate the death and resurrection of Christ.” Surely, prayer is for us a substantial part of Lenten preparations, just as prayer was such a vital part of our Lord’s ministry and his proximate preparation to suffer and die for us. Remember the Lord’s own prayer in the garden the night before he died. Remember what he told those who came with him: Pray!
Thus, it is most endearing that we find lessons about how to pray (the words to say and the things to do) directly from our Lord in the gospels. I can remember a prayer card given to my kindergarten class by our teacher, Sr. Mary Samuel, O.P., in which we asked Holy Mary to help teach us how to pray to her Son. “Lovely Lady dressed in blue, teach me how to pray! God was just your little Boy. Tell me what to say!” Hopefully, prayer is something we learn at a tender age. I am reminded of that as I consider the gospel lessons on prayer. Of course, we forever remain students – even novices – of prayer.
But, oh, how easy it is to fly through our prayer time or to ignore it completely! In Lent, focused as we are on doing with less, we could stand to do more praying. The time spent away from the TV and other entertainments is ample time for prayer. The time spent fasting and not grazing at table provides ample time to turn our thoughts to God. What have we learned this week about prayer? The Lord teaches us his own prayer, the Lord’s Prayer! We have privileged words to use in relating to the Father, whose adopted children we are. And the gospel also tells us to persevere in prayer: “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you” (Mt. 7:7). And certainly, as a foundational principle of prayer, the Lord’s own example teaches us to be yourself in prayer! If we leave our fears and struggles at the door when we pray, we are presenting a false image. Speak from the heart and know that God wants to hear us relate to Him in that way. Doesn’t any parent want his child to tell him about his life? How much more our Heavenly Father Who knows what we need and Who gives us good gifts?!
Responsory: (adapted from Psalm 138:1-2)
V.Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
I will give thanks to you, O Lord, with all my heart.
V.Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
I will worship at your holy temple and give thanks to your name.
V.Lord, on the day I called for help, you answered me.
Our Father.
Hail Mary.
Glory be.
Blessing:
May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen. / Dominus nos benedicat, et ab omni malo defendat, et ad vitam perducat aeternam. Amen.
Wednesday, March 03, 2004
Reflection #3
JMJ
V: Our help is in the name of the Lord. / Adiutorium nostrum in nomine Domini.
R: Who made heaven and earth. / Qui fecit caelum et terram.
Scripture: Psalm 18:2-4, 7, 21-30
I love you, LORD, my strength,
LORD, my rock, my fortress, my deliverer,
My God, my rock of refuge, my shield, my saving horn, my stronghold!
Praised be the LORD, I exclaim! … In my distress I called out: LORD! I cried out to my God. From his temple he heard my voice; my cry to him reached his ears…The LORD acknowledged my righteousness, rewarded my clean hands.
For I kept the ways of the LORD; I was not disloyal to my God.
His laws were all before me, his decrees I did not cast aside.
I was honest toward him; I was on guard against sin.
So the LORD rewarded my righteousness, the cleanness of my hands in his sight.
Toward the faithful you are faithful; to the honest you are honest;
Toward the sincere, sincere; but to the perverse you are devious.
Humble people you save; haughty eyes you bring low.
You, LORD, give light to my lamp; my God brightens the darkness about me. With you I can rush an armed band, with my God to help I can leap a wall.
Reflection:
“I love you, Lord, my strength,” the psalm had us proclaim! One week of discipline down. How are we doing? Have we faltered, stumbled? One week into this holy season is a good time to remind ourselves why we do what we do in Lent. Love! Ask forgiveness for weakness: for the time I convinced myself I was “starving” and needed just a “bit” more on my plate. That unnecessary dessert. That one last trip back to the honey roasted peanuts jar. Ask forgiveness not because these things are sinful in and of themselves, but because they are clear indications of our weakness and our lack of resolve to share, however insignificantly, in the Lord’s denial of self-will, in favor of the Father’s Will. In fact, isn’t it the refusal of such a small thing – the refusal of a seemingly insignificant share in the Lord’s sacrifice – that is more shocking and pathetic than even Simon of Cyrene’s having to be ‘compelled’ or ‘pressed’ (as Matthew’s gospel relates: Mt. 27:32) into service?
The gospel for this day’s Holy Mass (Lk. 11:29-32) calls us to repentance. We are not to seek other signs like an evil generation. We are not to walk clumsily into condemnation. Our sign has been given. Upon hearing Jonah proclaim, “Forty days more and Ninevah shall be destroyed” (Jonah 3:4), that town repented in sackcloth and ash. But Jesus proclaims that there is a greater sign than Jonah here! Is eternal condemnation, Hell, a real possibility for the soul? Most certainly. But Jesus is that greater sign because he not only alerts us to evil and possible destruction, but he is a fuller – the fullest! – message of God’s love and desire to unite us to Himself! Why is it so easy to turn from love? The people of Ninevah heard of destruction and the large city repented. We have heard a call to repent motivated by love. Yet, look at us.
One week down. Start anew on this path of the Cross. Be reminded: God rewards and repays; He loves; He is sincere with the sincere (cf. Ps. 18)! This is not the time to beat ourselves up over the past week’s loose grip on the Cross. Rather, remember: “Behold, now is a very acceptable time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (2 Cor. 6:2). Now is the time to start again and to sincerely hold on to that Cross more firmly. We might as well get used to holding it more closely … soon enough we’ll be affixed to it!
Responsory: (adapted from Lk. 11:32, Ps. 51:12, 19)
V. There is something greater than Jonah here.
A clean heart create in me, O God, and place a steadfast spirit within me.
V. There is something greater than Jonah here.
My sacrifice, O God, is a contrite spirit; a humble and contrite heart.
V. There is something greater than Jonah here.
Our Father.
Hail Mary.
Glory be.
Blessing:
May the Lord bless us, protect us from all evil and bring us to everlasting life. Amen. / Dominus nos benedicat, et ab omni malo defendat, et ad vitam perducat aeternam. Amen.
